# Directions on the mountain > How Snowcat plans a route to a lift, what its travel times include, what it knows about lifts and runs, and what changes for snowboarders. Canonical: https://getsnowcat.app/help/directions/ ## Page facts - Status: Available in Snowcat 1.6.28, the App Store build. - Plan: Snowcat Pro and Max - Checked against the app: October 27, 2026 - Part of: Snowcat Help, https://getsnowcat.app/help/ ## What it does Directions plan a route across the mountain to any lift: which runs to take, which lifts to ride, and roughly how long it will take. You choose a lift, start from where you are or from a place you pick, and follow the steps on screen. ## The route options | Option | What it optimizes | |---|---| | Fastest | The shortest total travel time. | | Easiest | The gentlest terrain that gets you there. | | “Recommended” | **[Max]** A route suggested for how you ride, from your rider profile. | Fastest and Easiest are the same for every rider. Your sport and level change only the Max “Recommended” route and the fit notes on it. ## What a step says Steps are written around landmarks: a lift step tells you to ride that lift to the top, and a run step tells you which run’s sign to look for. Each step shows its time, such as “6 min riding · 4 min estimated wait”. A route can also carry notes: - “120 ft walk up”: a climb on foot or sidestepping of more than 16 ft. - “Long flat stretch. Keep your speed”: on Max routes, at about 1,000 ft or more of flat ground. - “Includes a T-bar or J-bar”: the route rides a surface lift. - “Stretch for your level” or “Harder than your level”: on Max routes, terrain above your comfort. ## How travel time is worked out Travel time is time on snow, plus each lift’s ride, plus each lift’s estimated wait, plus any climbs. Two things make it optimistic: - **Pace.** Time on snow is planned at a strong rider’s pace, whoever you are. Most riders will take longer. - **Waits.** Each lift’s wait is the estimate for the current hour, not for the hour you will reach it. A line that builds while you travel isn’t in the total. When a lift’s wait is unknown, the card says “Travel time excludes unknown lift waits.” ## Which lifts and runs a route trusts **Lifts.** A route rides only lifts the resort reported running in the last 30 minutes. If the resort’s status is out of date, the route is planned from the last status the app has and says “Lift status is out of date — route shown for a normal day.” **Runs.** Snowcat doesn’t know whether a run is open. Every route says “Run opening status is unconfirmed. Follow resort signs and closures.” **Terrain.** Routes follow mapped runs wherever they can. Where mapped runs don’t connect, a route can cross the open ground between them. Snowcat doesn’t check the resort boundary. Stay in bounds, and follow the resort’s signs, closures and ski patrol. **Climbs.** For every rider, a route keeps uphill sections short: at most about 50 ft of climbing between two runs, and about 100 ft at a lift station. ## Snowboarders and flat ground Fastest and Easiest are planned the same way for skiers and snowboarders, and they don’t avoid flat cat tracks. **[Max]** The “Recommended” route does. It avoids flat ground, which means a stretch averaging less than 6°, and uphill sections when either is true: - your rider profile says Snowboard at level 1, 2 or 3 - you turned on “Flat cat tracks are hard for me” “Avoid T-bars and J-bars”, or a beginner snowboard level, keeps it off surface lifts. These settings change which route is chosen, not the times shown: travel times are not slowed for snowboarders. ## Starting a route Snowcat uses your GPS position as the start only when it is accurate to about 165 ft or better, less than 30 seconds old, and within about 330 ft of a mapped run or lift. Otherwise it asks you to pick a start, such as the top of a lift. When you start from GPS, your position goes to the routing server to plan the route and is not stored. When you pick a start yourself, no location is sent. ## While you ride Guidance is on screen, while the app is open on the map. There is no voice guidance, no lock screen guidance and nothing in the background. Snowcat doesn’t reroute by itself. If a lift on your route stops, the route names the lift, says “This route rides it.” and offers “New route from here”. If you leave the route, it says “You may be off this route”. **[TestFlight]** The Apple Watch app follows the route on your iPhone and taps your wrist when you are more than about 200 ft off it for 15 seconds. ## Without signal A new route needs signal; without it the app says “Routing needs signal.” A route you have already loaded keeps working, and the app says “Your loaded route remains available offline.” Every way down from a lift’s page also works offline, without times or waits. ## Plans - **[Free]** 3 route previews per install of the app. A preview shows the whole route on the map. The step-by-step directions, times and waits need Pro. Previews don’t reset, and one spent with no signal is given back. - **[Pro]** Directions to any lift, step by step, with times and waits, and every way down from a lift. - **[Max]** “Recommended” routes for how you ride. ## Known gaps A few lift-to-lift journeys have no route yet. The app can’t draw a route that Liftie describes in chat; “Show on map” opens the map overview.